Tough Love
by perylousdemon
Summary: Every relationship has its obstacles, but no matter what, there's always a way of overcoming them. This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so pleeeease be kind! :)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
**

"Tsume! Hey, Tsume!" A boy with shaggy brown hair and amber-colored eyes wandered about the streets of a small town. Everyone essentially ignored him, although he did get a few strange looks whenever he called that name. "Come on, Tsume! This isn't funny!"

"Who's laughing?" The boy whipped around at the sound of the gruff voice behind him and sighed in relief.

"I was worried. Where'd you go, Tsume?" Tsume started off down the street with his hands in his pockets. "Hey! Wait for me!" He dashed after him.

"Why do you insist on following me, kid?"

"...I don't know."

"Well, stop it. Go follow Porky or the know-it-all."

"I don't even know where Kiba and Hige ran off to. We have to find them and get out of here before that crazy guy shows up again."

"Too late for that." Tsume pointed to a large black dog with intense blue eyes that stood on the sidewalk up ahead, its fangs bared and hackles raised. Tsume and the boy exchanged glances before bolting back the way they had come with the dog hot on their heels.

"Down here, Tsume!" They dashed down a nearby alley just to come face to face with a brick wall.

"Shit! Great suggestion, kid! Now we're trapped!"

"Sorry! I don't know my way around this place!" The two turned to face the dog as a scruffy-looking man with a powerful hunting rifle entered the alley.

"Good job, Blue. We have them now." He cocked the gun and aimed it at the two just as Blue lunged for them; she caught only air as they leapt over both her and the man and bolted for the street. The man turned and fired a shot, catching Tsume in the leg, though it barely slowed him down. "After them, Blue!" Blue bolted out of the alley, but immediately stopped when she couldn't see or smell them. She glanced up at the roof of a nearby building just in time to see them scrambling over the edge.

>->->->->

"Why's that guy want us dead so badly?" Tsume glanced at the boy as they headed for the edge of town after traveling the rooftops for several minutes.

"Does it look like I know? He's nuts and obviously has a grudge against wolves, which makes me wonder about that dog of his. She's definitely got wolf blood in her."

"...Maybe that's why he has her. She helps him find us."

"Don't know, don't care." He flopped down against a crumbling wall at the edge of the town with a sigh. "I guess now we just wait for those other two idiots to find us."

"They'll probably be here soon." The boy sat down beside Tsume and began to inspect the wound on his leg. "It looks bad." Tsume opened an eye and gazed at him.

"I've had worse. Drop it."

"..." He hesitated before gently beginning to lick the blood from the wound. Tsume growled and shoved him away.

"Cut it out! I can take care of my own wounds!"

"...I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."

"Well, you're not helping, kid. You're just annoying the hell out of me!"

"You know, I do have a name..."

"Right. Toboe. I know. Kid is just so much easier to remember." Toboe sat back on his heels, gazing at Tsume.

"...Why don't you like me?"

"Don't take it personally. I don't like anyone. You're just extra-annoying."

"All I've done is tried to be nice to you, which is more than I can say for Kiba and Hige. I thought...I thought maybe at least I could be your friend."

"Well, you thought wrong. I don't have friends, and I don't want any. Just leave me alone, kid."

"..." Toboe climbed to his feet and disappeared around the wall. Tsume sighed and put his sunglasses on before resting his head back against the wall. _Finally. I wish he would get the hint. He's such an annoying brat._ He then lay down and curled up on his side. _...Then again, he's not so bad. He does treat me a lot better than the other two...and he always seems to be so concerned about me._ He sighed and removed the sunglasses before resting his head on a folded arm. _What am I thinking? He's just a kid. He doesn't know what he wants..._ His thoughts trailed off as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Toboe crept back around the wall and gazed at the large gray wolf sleeping nearby; he then padded over and curled up beside him, resting his muzzle on his paws and covering his nose with his tail. _...Good night, Tsume._

>->->->->_  
_

Tsume woke up a few hours later and lifted his head when he saw a large white wolf sitting nearby. "..." He yawned and climbed stiffly to his feet. The white wolf stood as well.

"Glad to see you're awake. Hige's trying to find us some food before we set out again."

"How long ago did you get here?"

"About an hour. You two were sleeping so soundly. We decided not to disturb you." Tsume glanced down at the small brown wolf curled up at his feet.

"...What took you so long to find us?"

"Hige's nose got confused. Wake Toboe up. We're leaving when Hige comes back." Tsume nudged Toboe with his nose.

"Wake up, kid." Toboe opened his eyes and quickly scrambled to his feet, backing away from Tsume.

"I'm sorry, Tsume! I was really tired, and I feel safe around you..."

"Relax. It's all right."

"..." The three wolves glanced over when a husky brown wolf wearing a collar ambled around the wall.

"I couldn't find anything, Kiba...oh, you guys are awake. Had a little run-in with Blue and that crazy guy, I see. We can't leave you two alone for a minute, can we? First that robot thing, now this." Tsume flattened his ears a bit.

"What can I say? I tend to attract pests." He glanced at Toboe, who lowered his head with a slight whine. "So are we going or what?" Kiba nodded.

"Yeah. You still coming with us?"

"Might as well. I've got nothing better to do."

"All right. Let's go." Kiba turned and loped out of the town into the desert wasteland, quickly disappearing into the nighttime shadows. Hige turned to follow him, but glanced back at the two other wolves.

"Hope you and the runt can keep up." Toboe whined a bit.

"I'm not a runt! My name's Toboe!"

"You've got a lot of nerve, Porky. You're the only one who should worry about keeping up." Hige simply ignored the insult and ran off in the direction Kiba had taken. Toboe started to follow as well. "Hey, Toboe." He paused and turned to gaze at Tsume as the other wolf walked over to him.

"...Yes, Tsume?"

"...I'm sorry for being such an ass to you lately. You're not such a bad kid...you can just be a little annoying sometimes. Anyway...I promise to lighten up if you promise to stop being so persistent all the time. How's that sound?" Toboe wagged his tail.

"You mean it?"

"Sure, kid." Toboe yipped and licked Tsume's muzzle before bolting after the other two wolves. "..." Tsume stood watching the younger wolf disappear into the darkness before following him, his injury barely slowing him down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"There's a town up ahead, guys. We can stop there to rest and get some food, or we can keep moving." Kiba stopped and allowed the others to catch up to him. Hige flopped down in the dirt and rested his head on his paws.

"I vote food. I'm starving." Tsume sat nearby with a scoff.

"When are you not?" He received a cross glare from Hige. Kiba glanced at Tsume and Toboe.

"What about you two?" Toboe sat next to Tsume with a bit of a meek expression.

"...I _am _kind of hungry. We haven't eaten anything in two days." Tsume stood with a stretch.

"You know I don't care what we do."

"All right. We'll stay in the town for the rest of the night. Hopefully, there's actually food here." Hige sniffed at the air and wagged his tail.

"My nose knows no lies. There's definitely food."

"Good. Tsume, you and Hige go on ahead. Toboe and I will find you later." The two ran ahead, leaving Kiba and Toboe alone. "Toboe...you like Tsume, don't you?" Toboe stared at the white wolf in surprise.

"No! I mean...I like him as a friend...but that's it."

"...Okay. Come on." The two wolves loped up to the town, concealing their true forms before entering. "All right, let's split up. You look for Tsume, I'll look for Hige." Before Toboe could protest, Kiba had disappeared down a nearby alley. Toboe whined a bit.

"I hate being left alone..." He started down the street, which was relatively empty other than the occasional drunk or homeless person. "Tsume! Where are you?" He stopped and glanced down a dark alley before starting across an abandoned lot. _Where could he be? This place is giving me the creeps..._

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A trespasser." Toboe stopped in his tracks when five wolves slunk out of the shadows; they could conceal their true forms from humans, but not from other wolves.

"What should we do with him, Ryoku?" A large, jet-black wolf with greenish-amber eyes padded over to Toboe, who quickly backed away, quivering in fear.

"I...I didn't mean to trespass. I was looking for my friend."

"Well, you chose the wrong place to look for him, kid. You know what we do to trespassers?" Toboe continued to back away with his tail between his legs, but he froze when he backed into a wall. The five wolves quickly cornered him, growling deeply; suddenly, one of the wolves yelped in pain when Tsume pounced on him and sank his sharp fangs into the back of his neck.

"Tsume!" The wolf threw Tsume off his back, and Tsume quickly placed himself between Toboe and the other wolves.

"You okay, Toboe?"

"Yeah..." Ryoku growled in a low tone.

"Out of the way, mongrel!" Tsume bared his bloody fangs.

"Not on your life. You want him so badly, you'll have to go through me first!"

"Gladly." With that, all five of the wolves attacked Tsume, biting and clawing at every inch of his body. Tsume snarled and tore out one of his attackers' throats before turning and clawing another across the face, blinding him, but he was overpowered by the remaining three. Toboe dashed into the fray just to be immediately leveled by one of the wolves; just as he was about to be attacked further, though, Ryoku called off the assault.

"That's enough. I think they've learned their lesson." He gazed coldly at Toboe as the young wolf picked himself up. "You'd better be out of town by sundown tomorrow, or you'll get the same treatment as your friend did. Let's go." He and the remaining wolves turned and loped off into the shadows. Tsume growled weakly and struggled to his feet, blood pouring from his wounds.

"Those bastards...they'll pay..." Toboe rushed over and caught Tsume just as he passed out.

"Tsume..." He glanced around before trying to move Tsume, but he couldn't, so he began to tend to his wounds as best as he could. Kiba and Hige showed up after a few minutes and rushed over to the two. Kiba took over Toboe's task.

"What happened, Toboe?" He hung his head, looking a bit ashamed.

"It's my fault. I should've been paying attention..."

"I didn't ask whose fault it was. I asked what happened."

"...I ran into a group of wolves, and Tsume showed up and fought them...to protect me." He glanced at Kiba and Hige. "They want us gone by sundown tomorrow..."

"...There's an abandoned building nearby. We can tend his wounds better there. Give me a hand, Hige." The two easily lifted Tsume's limp body and carried him to the building, but Toboe lagged behind, clearly depressed. _...He risked his life to protect me, and all I did was cower in fear. Some wolf I am..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Late the next morning, Toboe sat next to Tsume, simply watching him sleep; he hadn't moved from Tsume's side the entire night. Kiba walked over and sat beside Toboe. "You should get some rest. You're the only one who hasn't slept."

"...I'm not sleeping until Tsume wakes up."

"You need to stop worrying about him so much. He'll be fine. He's tough."

"...It's my fault. He wouldn't be hurt so badly if I'd been paying attention to where I was going."

"Don't blame yourself. It was his decision. He could've just as easily let them kill you." Toboe remained silent, refusing to look at Kiba for the tears in his eyes. "...Anyway, Hige and I are going to get some food. We should be back in an hour or two." Toboe watched Kiba stand and leave the building before returning his gaze to Tsume's sleeping form.

"..." He began to change his bandages, trying his best not to cry at the severity of his friend's wounds. "Why did you do that, you idiot?"

"Call it instinct." Tsume forced himself to sit up, wincing in pain.

"Tsume! You're awake!"

"Yeah...kind of wish I wasn't, though." He glanced at Toboe. "Where are the other two?"

"Getting food."

"Good. I'm actually willing to admit that I'm hungry, for once."

"...So why did you help me?"

"Would you rather I had let those dogs kill you?"

"...No."

"That's why I helped you. If I hadn't, you'd probably be dead, everyone would be all depressed, and that's something I can't stand."

"...I'm sorry, Tsume. I was scared."

"All the more reason you should've defended yourself or fled. Fear gives us the strength to do either." He closed his eyes for a moment, clearly in pain. "You need to start sticking up for yourself, Toboe. You won't always have someone you can rely on for help."

"I know that. It's just...I'm so little. I don't see how I could defend myself from one wolf, let alone five."

"You can't if you have that attitude. Being small and acting small are two entirely different things." He opened his eyes to gaze at Toboe. "I think your problem is that you were raised as a pet, so you're used to having everything handed to you on a silver platter. Real life doesn't work like that. If you want something, you have to get it yourself! Be assertive! Go after what you want, and don't give up, no matter what!" Toboe hesitated before suddenly kissing Tsume. Tsume's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't attempt to pull away, nor did he respond in a positive manner.

Toboe backed off after a moment, refusing to make eye contact with Tsume, his cheeks a bit flushed. "...Sorry, Tsume. I...I couldn't help myself."

"...It's fine. That's...not exactly what I had in mind when I told you to assert yourself, but...what on earth possessed you to do that?"

"..." He started to answer, but stopped himself when Hige and Kiba wandered in.

"We come bearing food!" Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Hige." He walked over and handed Toboe a box. "Lucky for us, there was a street vendor not too far from here selling Cornish hens..."

"Yup. He thinks two stray dogs stole them." Toboe glanced over at Hige before opening the box and beginning to eat. Kiba handed another box to Tsume.

"Glad to see you're awake. How you feeling?" Tsume gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Two guesses, Einstein."

"Stubborn and ungrateful?"

"Wrong. Painful and hungry. Thanks for the food."

"...No problem." Toboe suddenly stopped devouring his food.

"Kiba...what are we going to do about those wolves? There's no way we'll be gone by sundown. Tsume's hurt too badly."

"How many are there?"

"Well...there were five, but Tsume killed one and blinded another, so I think there are only three now...but there could be more."

"We'll have to fight them." Toboe started to protest, but he fell silent when he saw Tsume watching him.

"...Okay."

"Don't worry, Toboe. The moon will be out tonight. We'll be fine."

"..."

"You get some rest...and I'm sure you could use more sleep, Tsume. Hige and I are going to see if there are other wolves in this town besides the ones you ran into." Tsume nodded.

"All right. Be careful."

"We will." Hige and Kiba then ran out of the building once again. Tsume lay back down with a sigh.

"I can't wait for tonight. I'm really hurting."

"..." Toboe curled up on the floor nearby. "...I wish we didn't have to fight." Tsume glanced over at him.

"It's the way of the world. Fight or die. Those are the only choices you have."

"...Tsume?"

"Hmm?"

"...Never mind." The young wolf rested his head on his paws with a soft whine and closed his eyes, silently praying for night to never come.


End file.
